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Pray that this pandemic will end soon and the resumption of the postal service.
Subject 9 : Romans (Commentaries on the Book of Romans)
[Chapter 8-12] Who Would Dare to Stand against Us? (Romans 8:31-34)
(Romans 8:31-34)
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.”
In Romans 8:31-34, Paul testifies on Christ’s inseparable love of the believers by summarizing the gospel of the water and the Spirit and reaching its final conclusion. This passage proclaims the great joy of salvation reached at the zenith of faith.
Paul said in Romans 8:31, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Like Paul, we have experienced that the gospel of the water and the Spirit radiates as time goes by and becomes an even greater gospel of salvation as more of our weaknesses are revealed. The more we serve the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the more we are filled with conviction and joy.
Paul called the gospel in which he believed as, “my gospel” (2 Timothy 2:8). The gospel that Paul bore witness to was none other than the faith in the baptism and the blood of Jesus.
“My gospel” that Paul preached does not refer to the gospel of the Cross that the religious people believe in, but the gospel of the water and the Spirit that proclaims the blessing that Jesus took away all the sins of mankind once and for all.
This gospel made Paul a man of great courage. Since he received the forgiveness of sins, the righteousness of God filled his heart and thus his heart was also filled with the Holy Spirit. He devoted himself to bearing witness to the gospel of the water and the Spirit all his life. The gospel of the water and the Spirit has the power and authority to take away the sins of mankind all at once.
Who, then, can dare to be against the gospel of the water and the Spirit that Paul believed in? No one! Romans 8:31 tells us, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Who in this world can be against those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit? When God saved the mankind from the sins of the world through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, who can take His power in vain? Neither those who believe in Jesus in name only nor Satan himself can fight against or win over those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
He justified us all at once
Romans 8:29-30 states, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.”
This tells us that God the Father planned to save all the sinners in Christ and called them through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, washing away their sins all at once to make them His children. When our Lord delivered all the sinners from their sins through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, who could be against what He has done?
Who could possibly be against and win over those who have been justified by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit? This is nonsense. You must know that anyone who is against those who have been justified by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit is against none other than God Himself. You must believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit to be saved from all your sins at all costs. If in your mind and heart you are against the gospel of the truth, then you cannot be saved from your sins and you will be condemned to hell.
No one can be against those who have the righteousness of God
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31) That God is for us represents the fact that He has taken away all our sins through the gospel of the water and the Spirit and has saved us. Who, then, could be against those who have been redeemed of their sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and who could possibly say that such faith is wrong? It would be a useless exercise in vain. God has approved the faith of those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
How can anyone challenge this? Jesus took away all the sins of the world through His baptism and His blood on the Cross. Who can say that those who believe in this are wrong? No one!
In Romans 6:3 Paul said, “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” Paul meant that he believed in the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross, through which all his sins were passed onto Jesus and were cleansed, and by which Paul died and was resurrected with Jesus.
Galatians 3:27 also tells us, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” This passage tells us that Jesus took upon all the sins of the world with His baptism, was crucified on the Cross for these sins, and was resurrected, all to bestow us with the blessing that those who believe in this truth would become the children of God. Paul’s faith was grounded in the belief that he was baptized into Jesus, died on the Cross with Him, and was resurrected with Him. Therefore, once you believe in the baptism of Jesus, all your sins are cleansed, and you become a child of God by being resurrected with Christ.
“As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” In other words, those who believe that Jesus came to this world and was baptized by John the Baptist to take upon all the sins of the world, are baptized into Jesus. Moreover, they also believe that they died on the Cross with Jesus, and that by their faith they were resurrected with Him.
Anyone who believes in the baptism of Jesus and His blood will therefore be saved from his/her sins. Just as surely as Jesus is the Son of God, those who are redeemed of their sins by believing in the baptism and the blood of Christ will become God’s children. “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” When we believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, we put on the righteousness of Christ to become the children of God.
Paul spoke of Jesus’ baptism because he received a great blessing by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. But many are yet to receive such a blessing from God that comes with the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Most people think that the gospel that Paul preached was the gospel of the blood on the Cross, but the truth is that he believed in and spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which combines the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the Cross.
Why, then, are the followers of Jesus today unaware of this gospel of the water and the Spirit? It is because the gospel of the water and the Spirit preached in the Early Church period has changed with time. In the Early Church period, all the believers believed in and preached the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
In time, however, the gospel was altered and preached as only the blood of Christ while His baptism was increasingly marginalized. This explains why, even now, many people believe only in the blood on the Cross, which deviates from the true gospel of the Early Church period.
These people still have sin in them. They are ignorant of the gospel of the water and the Spirit, in which the righteousness of God is revealed, and as such, they are still sinners, and they still stand against this righteousness of God, even if they say that they believe in Jesus.
What could a spiritually blind person see? The blind may try to understand an elephant by touching it. A blind person may touch an elephant’s leg and say that it is a pillar, and yet another blind person may touch its nose and say that it is something long, for neither has seen an elephant before. Likewise, a spiritually blind person cannot talk of the greatness of the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Therefore, those who do not know the blessing of the water and the Spirit cannot preach it. Those who have seen can easily understand what someone tries to explain with words, but a blind would never really understand it.
People are born sinners. Because we were spiritually sinners from our very birth, we do not know the truth of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Those who only believe in the blood on the Cross have made a new version of Christianity on their own. How could their sins be washed away when they claim that they believe in Jesus and yet only believe in the blood on the Cross? Only more and more sins would pile up as time goes by.
Those who believe only in the blood of Jesus as salvation are those who are not yet spiritually awakened. But Jesus tells us clearly in John 3:5, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” We must therefore believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit in order to be blessed with the glory of becoming the children of God and entering His Kingdom.
Since Paul believed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, he said by faith, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31) Can those who do not know the gospel of the water and the Spirit be against the children of God? They could be against God’s children, but they could never win over them. Those who only believe in the blood on the Cross cannot win over those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Those who are against the righteousness of God can only become His foe and thus can never receive His blessings. No one can receive salvation or have the faith that takes him/her to heaven without believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the gospel in which the righteousness of God is revealed. Those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit can thus overcome the false gospel and return to the true one. The children of God can overcome the world and the devil himself.
Some do not clearly understand the baptism of Jesus and His blood, and their misunderstanding lead them to false faith. If you believe in the blood on the Cross but do not think much of receiving the forgiveness of sins by believing in the gospel of the baptism of Jesus, then your faith is wrong.
Those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit before God are the ones who will attain His righteousness and have the true faith. God tells us that those who believe only in His Son’s blood on the Cross are mistaken. Those who do not believe in His righteousness do not believe or recognize the gospel of the water and the Spirit, but those who believe in His righteousness also believe that both the blood of Christ on the Cross and His baptism took away their sins.
We must throw away our stubbornness. Those who disapprove the gospel of the water and the Spirit insist that their false beliefs are true. Those who believe only in the blood have a half faith in His righteousness. Only those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit have the whole faith, and they alone also believe in the righteousness of God and attain His righteousness (Matthew 3:15, 11:11).
The books written by those who believe only in the blood are turning paper into waste. The doctrines once discussed by theologians are now ignored by Christians, but the gospel of the water and the Spirit is receiving much attention. This truth has existed since the Apostolic Age and will never change. The Word of God exists forever, but those who believe solely in the blood are being erased from peoples’ memories. What is the reason? It is because the blood, which has only half of the righteousness of God, has no effect on sinners by itself.
Frankly speaking, most people today, whether they are Christians or non-Christians, commit so many sins. How could all these sins be forgiven by believing only in the blood? The doctrines that emphasize only the blood on the Cross teach people to pray for forgiveness whenever they sin, but for how long can they pray for their sins to be forgiven? No matter what they say, they cannot receive the forgiveness of sins.
Did Jesus come to this world and simply bleed to death without being baptized? You know that this is not true. Jesus came to this world and took upon all sins by being baptized (Matthew 3:15). He was baptized by John before He bled on the Cross, allowing Him to be crucified on the Cross. This is how Jesus fulfilled all righteousness. There is no need for you to cry for His mercy to be forgiven of your sin everyday if you believe in the baptism that Jesus received from John. Instead, believe in the righteousness of God and receive the complete salvation.
Jesus was baptized to take upon all the sins of the world on His shoulder and was crucified to be judged for the sins of the world once and for all. Redemption can be obtained only by believing in the baptism of Jesus and His blood.
Did Jesus give us a salvation that is greater than the sins we commit?
The redemption given by Jesus is far greater than all the sins that we have committed and will commit. If the baptism of Jesus and His blood were not greater than the sins of the mankind, then we could neither believe in Jesus as the Savior nor receive redemption. However, the goodness of the Lord is so great that He took away the sins of the world all at once through His baptism.
Likewise, the gate to Heaven is wide open, but no one can enter this gate without believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. You can be against those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, but you cannot hide from the dreadful judgment of God. Therefore, do not think that you can win over the faith in the baptism and the blood of Jesus, through which the righteousness of God was fulfilled.
Many of those who were against the gospel of the water and the Spirit were also against Paul the Apostle. But no one could say that the gospel of the water and the Spirit that Paul believed in was wrong. They only admitted that Jesus was the Son of God and their Savior.
Romans 8:32 tells us, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” God the Father sent His only begotten Son to the world and made Him bear all its sins through His baptism, die on the Cross, and rise again from the dead in order to deliver us from our sins.
In order to save us from the sins of the world and make us His children, as Jesus was, God the Father gave us His only begotten Son. For God to make all those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, His children and the blessed and righteous, He sent His only begotten Son to be baptized. God had planned to bestow all mankind with His heavenly blessings and the gospel of the water and the Spirit. One of these blessings is to become His child by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32) “All things” here refer to God’s gifts. What gifts? God gave those who received Jesus and believed in His name the right to become His children—that is, those who believed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are made the children of God. Those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are without sin. They are righteous and are truly the sanctified children of God.
Those who become the children of God by believing in all these will be gifted with the Thousand-year Kingdom and the Kingdom of Heaven. The righteous are blessed to inherit all the glories of the Heaven.
“Freely give us all things” has been interpreted by some as the giving of the Holy Spirit. They think, “Does this mean that once we believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit is given to us separately?” This is not true because when you believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, you receive the remission of your sins and the Holy Spirit all at the same time. The Holy Spirit cannot dwell in a sinful heart. The Holy Spirit comes to us at the very moment when all our sins are forgiven.
There is more for the believers than receiving the Holy Spirit. God’s gifts do not end until all the heavenly blessings are given to us. In this world, people tend to think that such abilities as healing, speaking in tongues, and prophesizing are gifts, but the gifts mentioned in this passage refer to all the heavenly things that our Father possesses. By gifts, Paul is talking about all the things that God bestows on His children who have the righteousness of God.
God said that He would give all good things as a gift to those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. God gave the gift of being born again to those believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. God gives all things of Heaven as a present to those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Christians suffer so much living while in this world but when the Kingdom of God comes, they will be endowed with the glory of Heaven.
Do not say you are the elect for no reason
Romans 8:33-34 states, “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.”
“Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect?” Could you bring a charge against those whom God saved with the gospel of the water and the Spirit? Of course not!
Theologians quote Calvin by saying that some were unconditionally selected while others were not. However, we must never use the term “unconditionally” in the presence of God. By doing so, they prove that they do not know God at all, and that their doctrine is false. Unconditional selection means that God loves some for no reason and hates others for no reason as well. How could we say that God is righteous when He loves some and hates others? This is not our God. Our God loves and cares for all mankind in Christ.
Here, in verse 32 it is said, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” God gave us His Son in order to save all mankind. Through Him, God made us believe that He has taken away all our sins through the Word of the water and the blood. In verse 33 it is written, “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect?” Here, the word “God’s elect” does not imply that God selects some unconditionally. God selects those who cannot live without Jesus Christ and those without their own righteousness in order to clothe them with His own righteousness.
Those who are chosen by God’s righteousness are the ones who believe and rest in the truth that Jesus came to this earth, was baptized, and sacrificed Himself on the Cross to take away all our sins. They are the ones who believe in God, He who has saved them from the sins of the world and clothed them with His righteousness.
Who, then, could bring a charge against the righteous? No one! No one can say that our faith is wrong. No one can judge those who are saved from their sins and are chosen as the children of God by believing the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Those who believe in only the blood of the Cross can neither say that those who believe the gospel of the water and the Spirit are false, nor bring a charge against them before God.
Some people misjudge those who are clothed with God’s righteousness by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. But is that right? No! The faith of those chosen to be righteous in the presence of God can never be wrongly judged by anyone.
Who could say that those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are sinners and wrongly judge their faiths? We have long been preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit, in which the righteousness of God revealed, to all the people in the world.
But no one has brought a charge against us for preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit. There were just a few who asked us to approve the faith of only the blood of the Cross. Even they could not say that having faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit is wrong.
The true gospel of the water and the Spirit is the gospel that contains the righteousness of God. This is the true gospel, and all other gospels are incomplete. Paul the Apostle, who preached the gospel of the water and the Spirit, said that there could never be another gospel beside this true gospel, and he asserted, “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8-9).
No one can say that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is biblically wrong. Those who do not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are against it. If you believe that the gospel of the water and the Spirit given by God is false, then go ahead and protest to God. We, too, have to and are able to fight against the incomplete false gospels that emphasize only the blood of the Cross. How could Jesus be crucified for our sins without first taking them upon Himself through His baptism?
Do not say that the believers of God’s righteousness have sins
To “bring a charge” means to ask for the judgment on a trial. The only one who could bring a charge against those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit is an evildoer. Those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit have faith in God’s righteousness, so who could wrongly judge their faith? Who could say that they are wrong? There is none, for it is God who justifies them. No one can accuse the believers of the gospel of the water and the Spirit of having any sin.
“It is God who justifies” (Romans 8:33). Who can declare the believers of the gospel of the water and the Spirit to be sinless? Only God can. He declares by His righteousness that the believers of the gospel of the water and the Spirit are justified.
“Justified” is not applied to those who still have sin, but it is applied to those whose sins were actually forgiven, making them “sinless and justified.” When God says that the ones who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit are sinless, who can dare to say that they are wrong and do not have the righteousness of God? No theologian in this world can say so.
Christianity of today has been corrupted by the Doctrine of Sanctification that tries to attain religious holiness. A theologian in England, after asking, “Is the church of God holy?” claimed that the church of God, too, had flaws. Clearly, this theologian neither knew about the gospel of the water and the Spirit nor had faith in God’s righteousness.
But every believer in the church of God believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and is completely sinless. Although he/she may be weak in the flesh, he/she still has the perfect and the flawless righteousness of God.
Is everyone in the church of God without sin? Yes! The church is a place where the believers who are sanctified and without sin gather together in Christ. If the believers have sin, then they are not God’s children. What made them sanctified? It is, of course, the faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit that made them sinless by receiving the righteousness of God. The theologian said that even the church of God had flaws because he did not believe in or even know the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Who dares to say that the believers of the gospel of the water and the Spirit are sinners? It is God who ‘justified’ them. Can we, those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, be with sins only because we are weak? We certainly cannot! Then does this mean that we have no sin even as we still commit sins? Yes, we have no sin! This is why we need to believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. People do not intend to commit sins on purpose, but because of their weaknesses.
There are very few people who actually intend to commit sins; almost all iniquities are caused by the weaknesses of human beings. The ones who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit do not have sin in their hearts because they have the righteousness of God. We are without sin because God did away with all our sins with His righteousness. That is why the Bible states, “It is God who justifies.” It is God who declares that the believers of the gospel of the water and the Spirit are without sin because they have His righteousness. We have been delivered from all our sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
If Jesus had not taken away even our future sins, how could we be redeemed of our sins and how could we say that we are sinners no more? If we, after believing in the righteousness of God, commit sins and live in sin, then does this make us not sanctified enough, or disqualify our redemption, and thus destine us back to hell again? The answer is no! If our salvation comes by self-sanctification, who in the world could ever be saved? No one! No one can live a perfect life in the flesh and be sanctified by keeping the commandments completely. So the Bible states, “There is no righteous, none at all” (Romans 3:10).
In nature, human beings cannot receive God’s righteousness by their own deeds
God sent His only begotten Son, who was baptized by John the Baptist, and put Him to death on the Cross to save all mankind from the sins of the world. Those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit have become righteous by their faith. This is why there could be the righteous even in this world. Abraham also became the father of faith by believing in the Word of God.
Even though many Christians say that they can receive God’s righteousness through the Doctrine of Justification, they in fact are ignorant of it. What is God’s righteousness? It is far different from human righteousness. In what gospel is God’s righteousness revealed? In the gospel of the water and the Spirit is this righteousness of God revealed. If we reject the gospel of the water and the Spirit without believing in it, that means we are standing against God.
No one can be delivered from sin or receive God’s righteousness without having faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Can anyone be against God’s righteousness even a bit? I have long believed in and preached the gospel of the water and the Spirit, but I have never seen anyone who could stand against this gospel. No one can be against the gospel of the water and the Spirit on the basis of God’s Word because this gospel of the righteousness of God gives us the perfect and complete redemption of our sins.
Who can condemn those who have the righteousness of God?
Let’s read Romans 8:34. “Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” Could anyone condemn those who believe in God’s righteousness to be sinful? No one can.
Could anyone condemn the believers of the gospel of the water and the Spirit, who have been delivered from their sins by faith, to be sinners? No! “Who is he who condemns?” Who can say that the believers of the righteousness of God are sinners?
The wages of sin is death. If you have sin in your heart, you are going to go to hell. God judges people because they have sin. But those whose sins have been taken away by their faith in the righteousness of God are not judged by God, because they no longer have any sin to be judged. When God Himself does not judge those who believe in the righteousness of God, who can dare to condemn them? If a believer in Jesus Christ is with sin, he/she is a sinner and will be judged and condemned by God. Sinners will be judged by God for their sins in their hearts and will be shunned by other people. But if a believer in Christ believes in the gospel of the water and the Spirit and receives the righteousness of God, that person is sinless before God and no one can condemn the person. Nor is there sin in the conscience of such people.
“Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” Jesus, the Son of God, came to the earth to give us God’s righteousness, received baptism from John the Baptist to bear all our sins, died on the Cross shedding His blood, and rose again from the dead to become our Savior. He now sits at the right hand of God and makes intercession for us as our Savior.
The Holy Spirit also prays for those who have the righteousness of God. Jesus prays for us in Heaven. The Holy Spirit, too, prays for us to God the Father, but in a different way, with “groanings” that cannot be uttered whenever we are weak in our hearts.
How perfect is the righteousness of God in the hearts of those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit? The perfection of God’s righteousness tells us that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is also flawless and perfect.
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